Bhagavad Gita · 3.4 · Path of Selfless Service·4 of 43
न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते।न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति ॥
na karmaṇām anārambhān naiṣhkarmyaṁ puruṣho
’śhnute na cha sannyasanād eva siddhiṁ samadhigachchhati
Sanskrit recitation
Why act at all · 3.1–3.9 · Teaching
Translation
Man does not reach actionlessness by not performing actions; nor does he attain perfection by mere renunciation.
Meaning
Actionlessness (Naishkarmyam) and perfection (Siddhi) are synonymous. The sage who has attained to perfection or reached the state of actionlessness rests in his own essential nature as ExistenceKnowledgeBliss Absolute (Satchidananda Svarupa). He has neither necessity nor desire for action as a means to an end. He has perfect satisfaction in the Self.One attains to the state of actionlessness by gaining the knowledge of the Self. If a man simply sits quiet by abandoning action you cannot say that he has attained to the state of actionlessness. His mind will be planning, scheming and speculating. Thought is real action. The sage who is free from affirmative thoughts, wishes, and likes and dislikes, who has the knowledge of the Self can be said to have attained to the state of actionlessness.No one can reach perfection or freedom from action or knowledge of the Self by mere renunciation or by simply giving up activities without possessing the knowledge of the Self. (Cf.XVIII.49).
After Swami Sivananda
Why act at all· 3.1–3.9→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 3.1Arjuna said: If Thou thinkest that knowledge is superior to action, O Krishna, why then, O Kesava, doest Thou ask me to engage in this terrible action?
- 3.2With this seemingly perplexing speech, you seem to be confusing my understanding; therefore, tell me one certain way by which I may attain bliss.
- 3.3The Blessed Lord said, "In this world, there is a twofold path, as I said before, O sinless one: the path of knowledge of the Sankhyas and the path of action of the Yogins."
3.4Man does not reach actionlessness by not performing actions; nor does he attain perfection by mere renunciation.
- 3.5Verily, no one can remain for even a moment without performing action; for everyone is made to act helplessly, indeed, by the qualities born of Nature.
- 3.6He who, restraining the organs of action, sits thinking of the sense-objects in his mind, he of deluded understanding is called a hypocrite.
- 3.7But whoever, controlling the senses by the mind, O Arjuna, engages himself in Karma Yoga with the organs of action, without attachment, he excels.
- 3.8Perform your bounden duty, for action is superior to inaction, and even the maintenance of the body would not be possible for you through inaction.
- 3.9The world is bound by actions other than those performed for the sake of sacrifice; do thou, therefore, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), perform actions for that sake alone, free from attachment.
Word-by-word→
- na
- not
- cha
- and
- eva
- only
- siddhim
- perfection
- aśhnute
- attains
- karmaṇām
- of actions
- anārambhāt
- by abstaining from
- puruṣhaḥ
- a person
- sannyasanāt
- by renunciation
- naiṣhkarmyam
- freedom from karmic reactions
- samadhigachchhati
- attains
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